Charlton Howard was born in Sydney on 17 August 2003. His family is well connected in the music industry: his father, Nick Howard, is a music producer and sound engineer; his mother, Sloane Howard (née Leonard), was a talent manager, record label founder, and music executive of Aboriginal descent who once managed Popstars winner Scott Cain. Howard has one brother named Austin.

While Howard’s father was not always present in his life, his uncle became a father figure for him. In 2015, Howard’s uncle was murdered. Howard attributes his inspiration to succeed to avoiding a fate like his uncle and making him proud. When Howard’s parents separated when he was four, his childhood became more chaotic. Howard said that sometimes his mother sold drugs to get by.

At the age of seven, he moved to Broken Hill to live with his mother, brother, and grandparents. He attended Sacred Hart Parish School where he was a house captain and won a speaking award. After leaving Broken Hill, Howard attended Sacred Heart College in Adelaide for a period of time until he was bullied and his mother could not afford it anymore. They moved back to Sydney in 2017.

In Sydney, he attended a performing arts school. He stayed there for half a year but then left to pursue his international career.

Howard would wait outside of hotel rooms for big artists with his music on hand. He tried to find different ways to meet them or get backstage access to their concerts. His social engineering tactics finally paid off when he sent a female friend on a mission to play my music to Swae Lee in a hotel. It worked: he later collaborated with Swae Lee on the song Attention.

When it comes to interests or hobbies, The Kid Laroi loves playing tennis and listening to all types of music (especially hip-hop). He started writing lyrics from the age of 10 years old and played tennis for 4 years before deciding to focus on making music instead.